Burlingame School District may pursue November parcel-tax measure

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By Neil Gonzales | MediaNews, San Mateo County Times, Bay Area News Group

June 28, 2011 at 4:12 pm

The Burlingame School District may ask voters to back a November parcel tax measure to bolster funding for educational programs.

The district is exploring a potential $95-per-parcel annual tax running eight years. The tax would generate an estimated $750,000 a year to maintain math, reading, art and other programs; pay for classroom materials; and retain qualified teachers.

“Every dollar helps,” district board member Liz Gindraux said Tuesday. “What’s nice about a parcel tax is it’s general-fund money. It is spent directly on teachers and students in the classrooms. A parcel tax raises local money, and we can keep that. It’s something we can control.”

The financial boost would come at a time when the district is facing an ongoing structural deficit. The board recently approved the district’s 2011-12 budget, which plans for a loss of about $950,000 in state funding. The district has had to dip into reserves and make reductions such as cuts to library services to tackle the shortfall, Gindraux said.

A donation drive led by the local education foundation and parents has helped the district avoid taking other cost-cutting measures, such as increasing class sizes from 22 to 25 students on average from first to third grade for 2011-12, she said.

But the district might have to do so for 2012-13 unless voters pass a tax, she said.

District leaders have also been weighing a bond proposal to continue campus improvements. The existing $48 million Measure A bond, which voters approved in 2007, doesn’t cover the district’s other building needs, especially in light of an enrollment surge, leaders said.

The district is expected to have 2,942 students in 2011-12, according to a staff budget report, but that population is projected to rise to 3,380 children in 2015. “I think the plan is to go out in November for a parcel tax and follow in the spring with a bond measure,” Gindraux said. The district could seek a $20 million to $30 million bond, she said.

The immediate focus, however, is a tax initiative, trustee Greg Land said. “With all the budget cuts, it’s relevant to pursue a parcel tax rather than a bond,” Land said. “Yes, modernization is important, but it’s not as important as continuing programs for our students.”

Trustees still have to make a final decision on the tax amount and other details, they said. The district has set a July 28 public hearing to gather community feedback on a tax measure before the board considers approving a resolution to place it on the ballot. The meeting starts at 7:30 a.m. in the district offices at 1825 Trousdale Drive.

Other districts have been targeting ballot measures for November. The San Bruno Park district board is scheduled Wednesday to consider going for a $40 million bond. The Millbrae School District is also studying a bond, possibly in the $30 million range.

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